Organized crime prosecutors informed today that they are expanding an investigation aimed at a company that was seen as part of the business empire of former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

The case is already on trial, and 26 persons were accused of involvement in an elaborate tax fraud system where they moved funds from one bogus company to another. Those arrested were largely low level employees of various companies seen as close to Zaev and several of his henchmen in Prilep and Bitola – the main organizers fled, and even the presiding judge during the trials compared the case to a net which caught the small flies while the big ones got away.

Today, after new evidence was presented, the charges were expanded to 15 employees of the main UJP tax authority office in Skopje and the UJP offices in Bitola and Prilep – all of them are charged with abuse of office. One of the defendants is a former member of Parliament. The charges involve former top UJP officials who were responsible for approving tax rebates, risk analysis and registration of taxpaying companies.

According to the charges, the suspects used their official positions to allow another party to make significant gains or to inflict significant financial damages. They acted contrary to the law on tax proceedings, the law regulating the work of the tax authority system, the bylaws that include outside control of the UJP and the approval of tax rebates, the charges state.

The charges declare that the companies included in this scheme were supposed to be put on the list of risky taxpayers, but that the UJP officials refused to conduct investigations. The total damages to the public coffers are estimated at over 206 million denars (over three million EUR) and the solid gain to the ringleaders of the group is estimated at 167 million denars.

Prosecutors insist that there is a clear connection between the earlier charges and the new set of charges, and are demanding measures that will limit the movement of the defendants and their ability to flee prosecution. This is the second significant investigation into tax fraud that targets businesses close to Zaev in the matter of a week.